Rationale
Evidence-based medicine is now the 'gold standard' for evaluation of treatments in disease management. The foundations of evidence-based medicine are controlled clinical trials, of which there are a considerable number of published trials in each field of medicine that are constantly being added to with new studies. Keeping abreast of the latest trials and their critical appraisal by the scientific community at large can thus be a challenge to the physician, whether they are in primary or secondary care.

The Evidence & Efficacy series provides a convenient collection of the most important controlled clinical trials in a particular medical specialty, reviewing the important pharmacological properties, clinical efficacy, safety and tolerability of new or established agents and defining their clinical potential or most appropriate place in therapy. Topics are selected for evaluation/critical appraisal on the basis of a combination of intrinsic interest, timing (to co-incide with the appearance of early findings of clinical interest or a new product launch), increasing patterns of use in global markets and a wealth of evidence requiring objective critical appraisal.